Samhain (sow-ween) or All Hallow’s Eve is celebrated on October 31st and it literally means summer ending. This ancient holiday occurs between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice and celebrates the harvest. One of the many aspects that comprise Samhain is that of the Celtic New Year. At this point, one can glance back at the past year to gain insight from their experiences. This is also a time of honoring ancestors and deceased loved ones.

To All Of Our Readers That Celebrate, Happy Samhain, and Happy Halloween!

It was two pimps that were the last to be executed in Canada. Arthur Lucas murdered Therland "checkerboard" Crater, and a twenty-one year old prostitute by the name of Carolyn Newman. Newman was under the control of Crater. The crime took place in a Kendall Avenue house where the two victims had lived on November 17th 1961.

Lucas was hanged along with Ron Turpin a Toronto area a pimp, thug, and cop-killer on December 11th 1962. They were the last to be hanged in this country.

Canada no longer has a death penalty.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and since I'm not feeling up to being overly wordy at the moment (symptoms of Graves pretty bad right now) I'll just post up this pic of the girls. It's one of my faves, and was taken at a dear friend's wedding.

Blog Your Blessings

From the "Sue Scans Old Pics" files....

HEAD SHOT! Matthew at Fort York about seven years ago or so... looking very happy.

Younger, thinner days... the pony tail is behind the back.

Meanwhile, back at Fort York, Matthew is waxing literary and ghostly with (left to right) John Robert Colombo and Terry Boyle...

...and you thought it was a NEW thing... Matthew at a pulpit many moons ago.

Chef Didier prepares a feast at the sadly defunct Château Didier à Haliburton...

Thank you to Abbey for putting together Nostalgic Saturday. Why not join us?!

Just when we think we know everything.....

....along comes this strange little fella...

Here is a news snippet from the BBC:

The fossil of a "bizarre" feathered dinosaur from the era before birds evolved has been discovered in China.

Epidexipteryx was very bird-like, with four long ribbon-like tail feathers - probably used in display.

But the pigeon-sized creature shows no sign of the flight feathers seen in other bird-like dinosaurs, according to a report in the journal Nature.

The discovery highlights the diversity of species present in the Middle to Late Jurassic, just before birds arose.

The full BBC article is here

I love discoveries such as these ones that are a good reminder that there is so much left to learn, and discover on this planet.

Image Credit: BBC

Making cancer history at the Toronto Marathon this past Sunday.

One million dollars was raised through the Toronto Marathon for Princess Margaret Hospital, cancer research, and other local charities.

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

Today my youngest kid is volunteering at the Toronto Marathon that raises money for Princess Margaret Hospital, and cancer research. She will be handing out water to the runners. I hope that it will inspire a life-long love of volunteering and service to her community. She is doing this with her sister my eldest daughter who asked her to help out. My eldest regularly volunteers her time to charitable causes, and works full-time in the non-profit sector. I am so proud of them both

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!

Blog Your Blessings

On the recommendation of a friend I picked up a copy of Mean Streets: Confessions of a Nighttime Taxi Driver by author Peter McSherry. The book is based in my home-town of Toronto, which makes it that more intriguing for me. Here is a snippet:

"A world exists on the nighttime streets that the average person cannot envision. Taxi driver Peter McSherry recounts tales of his thirty years of experience driving cabs at night on the hard-bitten streets of Canada's largest city. Drunks, punks, con artists, hookers, pimps, drug addicts, drug pushers, thugs, nymphomaniacs, snakes, politicians, celebrities . . . he's experienced them all. McSherry serves up his stories with forthrightness, humour, and the occasional dash of cynicism. In this well-written and street-smart book, the author tells the rest of us about a world we can only imagine - if we dare."

You can grab new or used copies from Amazon for dirt cheap. Just click on the linky I added in above if you are interested. They also have copies at Chapters, and the Toronto Public Library.

A sad, broken building

Another view......

I have no idea how long it has been empty, but it is slowly decaying. A modern ruin.

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish our fellow Canadians are very Happy Thanksgiving Day!

Our Thanksgiving Day is is different from the American Thanksgiving celebration. For one thing it is celebrated far earlier in the season, because our growing season ends much earlier. Also, while Americans remember Pilgrims and their own settling in the New World, we Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest.

Now, please pass a slice of that pumpkin pie, and homemade whipped cream!

Vintage Thanksgiving Day Card

On this Thanksgiving Day I am blessed to be able to celebrate the harvest such as my ancestors did with plenty of food, and in the company of my beloved.

I wish this was true of everyone around the world including those within our own city who cannot say the same.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!

Blog Your Blessings

This weekend is the Thanksgiving long-weekend here in Canada. Monday is the actual Thanksgiving Day holiday, and most of us have the day off.

Growing up the holiday was a big deal in our house. My Mom would literally spend days before the actual holiday preparing what would amount to a smörgåsbord type feast for family, and friends.

We had a pretty big house back then, so my parents usually played host and hostess to the rest of our extended family. I remember always looking forward to seeing certain cousins, and aunts, and uncles that I have long since lost touch with. The only downer for me was being stuck at the "kids" table in the kitchen with my younger sibling, and wee cousins while the adults sat at the big table with all of its festive decor.

Thirty some odd years later my own kids are off to spend the long weekend with their Dad this year. This allows for a much more intimate holiday for Matthew and I than those I spent during my youth...and to be honest I am looking forward to it.

Thank you to Abbey for putting together Nostalgic Saturday. Why not join us?!

Believe it or not...me...the Tudor buff has yet to see Elizabeth - The Golden Age with Oscar winner Cate Blanchett. When it first came out in theaters my daughter thought seeing this film would make a fun Mom/Daughter evening out, but I was very hesitant. Not that I did not want to see a movie with the kid, but because I heard that this film plays fast and loose with history, which I do find annoying. After sitting through the dreadful Marie Antoinette film where she (Marie) was portrayed as a vapid 1980s party girl I was just not willing to risk the money for tickets on another less than accurate "historical" themed movie.

Golden Age is now on DVD and I'm curious if any of you has seen it, and what your thoughts are. Is it worth spending two hours of my life on?

I came across this great cabinet at an antique shop here in Toronto.

I have never seen one quite like it.

I'm certain with a little elbow grease, and love this could be a gorgeous piece. I wish I could afford it.

Please note that this entry is for both the Tuesday, and Wednesday editions of WW.

Happy Wordless Wednesday! And Thank You For Stopping By!

For a list of other Wordless Wednesday participants please click here.

When it comes to sales like these I always have mixed feelings.

This one of its kind (meaning it is the only known of survivor) chain of office from the time of Henry VIII is being put up for auction according to a BBC news item. Henry had given the gold Coleridge Collar to one of his closest advisers, Sir Edward Montagu, around the year 1546.

The auction of this item is part of Christie's Important European Furniture, Sculpture and Tapestries sale, and the director had this to say about the Tudor chain:

"The Coleridge Collar is an extraordinary and fascinating piece of history, both as a work of art, and also as a rare Tudor relic.

"An extremely rare example of early English goldsmith-work, the collar also represents the only known, complete, surviving collar of office from the time of Henry VIII, one of the most renowned of European monarchs."

Why I have mixed feelings on this is because of its historic importance, and extreme rarity it really should be in a museum, and not in private hands in my opinion. I would be lying of course if I said I would not love to at least try it on.

This past week I was surprised to receive a bouquet of roses from the bus man.......

....there was no special occasion. They are here just because...and that makes me very happy.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great week ahead!

Blog Your Blessings

Last week I introduced you to the Schmidtke girls. Now I would like you to meet the Demeter boys aka my Dad, and his brothers.

Julianna Demeter and her boys early 30's

Julianna was my paternal grandmother. She is pictured above with her sons from left to right Joe, Alec, and Mike. Alec was my Dad. At the time of this writing my grandmother, father, and uncle Mike have all passed on.

The photo was taken in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada where they first emigrated to. Originally the family was from Nyirbeltek, Hungary. I think my Dad was five when he first came to Canada.

These boys all grew up during the Great Depression. When I would ask my Dad about those times he would say that they had very little. He had one pair of shoes, and he had to take great care of them because whether he outgrew them or not they were all he had.

He also recalled a lot of fun times, and people who genuinely would look out for each other. People were all in the tough times together. Or at least that was the impression that he had given to me of what life was like back then.

I think growing up in that era shaped who he was as an adult. I remember my Dad always looking for the best bargains, haggling, stocking up when he could on all staple items, while at the same time being very generous with all those around him. He really was the give you the shirt off of his back type.

Today's news of crashing stock markets, and recession make me recall my own Dad's memories of the Great Depression. I wonder if people today would be as kind, and as giving of what they could as my Dad had remembered people were back then........

Thank you to Abbey for putting together Nostalgic Saturday.

I guess this spells (forgive the pun) the end of an era for our Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Apparently they are laying off all of their staff! This is due to declining sales according to news reports.

Here is a news snippet from the CBC

The entire staff of the Canadian Oxford Dictionary has been laid off because of declining sales.

The Canadian branch of the Oxford University Press said it told two full-time and two part-time employees this week they would be let go due to "changing market conditions."

Katherine Barber, the full-time editor of the dictionary, is among those who have been let go. Dubbed "Canada's Word Lady," Barber has been at the helm of Oxford's Canadian dictionary department since its creation in 1991.

David Stover, president of the Canadian company, said sales of all print dictionaries have declined in recent years.

"We've been the market leader and our sales have held up very well," he said, declining to give specific figures.

"What we found, though, was that in the last six months with the downturn in the retail sector and the migration of people online reaching a tipping point, that we had to take a much closer look at it."

An abundance of free internet dictionaries means fewer people are using print versions, he said.

Stover said the company is discussing an "ongoing role" with Barber.

The company will continue to publish the Canadian Oxford Dictionary with the assistance of Canadian freelancers and the lexicography department in Oxford, England, he said.

A quick glance around the blogosphere, and it is obvious that now more than ever we need our dictionaries! It is a shame that the printed ones may disappear forever in the very near future....

I have been following the saga of Oetzi The 5,000 year old Iceman since the discovery of his body back in the early 1990's. According to a BBC article that was published yesterday, the legal battles over Oetzi are finally over.....maybe.....

Here is a snippet:

A legal battle sparked by the discovery of the world-famous 5,300-year-old "Iceman" known as Oetzi in northern Italy in 1991 has finally been settled.

German hikers Erika and Helmut Simon found the remains, but officials in the north Italian province of Bolzano had refused an adequate finders' fee.

A court ruled against the province in 2006, and it has finally agreed to pay 150,000 euros (£120,000; $216,000).

But the award has come too late for Mr Simon, who died four years ago.

The money will go to his 71-year-old widow.

You may have picked up on my use of the word maybe in the last paragraph. I used it because there has been persistent rumours of a curse since the discovery of the iceman.

Another BBC snippet:

The BBC's Mark Duff, in Milan, says Oetzi has brought nothing but bad luck to many of those involved in his discovery.

Mr Simon died in a mountaineering accident in 2004, and six other people linked to the discovery in some way have died in apparently mysterious circumstances.

This has all led to talk of a Tutankhamen-like "curse of Oetzi", our correspondent says.

Oetzi was reportedly 159cm tall (5ft 2.5in), 46 years old, arthritic, and infested with whipworm at the time he died. It was discovered that the iceman himself died due to murder!

Curse or not the discovery of Oetzi is one of the most important in the last century in my opinion. We have learned a lot from this humble man of 5,000 years ago.